Alex de Vries – Magnifico took this photo from an ultra light above the Hudson Bay…pretty impressive and gutsy. You can see the ice has broken up in the Churchill River and soon beluga whales will be filling the water in all directions. Enjoy the view!
The winter dive on the HMS Erebus, Sir john Franklin’s long lost but now found ship, went well but is only “scratching the surface” according to senior researchers on the expedition.
Divers were literally scratching the surface of the sunken ship. Removing the kelp that covered the old wooden hull was the first task to be able to get a better look at the wreck in relation to the overall site. Rather than strip it all away from the entire ship they cut it off only along the port side of the 34-meter long wooden vessel.
Although the Erebus has not disclosed much information about its fate as of yet, clearing the hull and mapping the site has provided more of a story.
Jonathan Moore drilling the ice for a dive hole at Erebus Dive Camp. Parks Canada photo.
Parcs Canada senior underwater archeologist Ryan Harris says the artifacts recovered so far “can help capture what life was like inside Erebus, as well as perhaps on the still-missing second ship of the Franklin expedition, HMS Terror.” Brass buttons, a cannon and ceramic dinner plates have all been discovered and are currently on display with a dozen other items in Gatineau, Quebec.
Brass buttons discovered can be narrowed down to only four crewmen. Parks Canada photo.
Ceramic dinner plates found at the Erebus wreck site. Parcs Canada photo.
In another mysterious and intriguing twist to the expedition, glass prisms were placed inside the upper deck which focused a very small amount light streaming through a skylight, and allowed that daylight to pass through, into the dark spaces below.
“It looks like something out of Jules Verne,” Harris says. “At this point in time, we’re absolutely just scratching the surface of what we might learn from this shipwreck,”
A cannon from the HMS Erebus is pulled to the surface through one of the dive holes cut in two-meter thick ice. Jonathan Moore/ Parcs Canada photo.
This beautiful sunset shot with the inukshuk by Alex de Vries – Magnifico in Churchill is a great way to start this Sunday. Sunsets in the spring and fall in Churchill seem to have a little better color to them. Enjoy!
Churchill beluga whale watching operators breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans ruled that the recently proposed minimum distance regulations for observing belugas on the Churchill River and Hudson Bay would not be enforced for the coming summer season. A proposed 50 meter restriction was to apply to all vessels observing whales on the water. DFO was citing research recently conducted with results showing minimal contact with whales would be beneficial to them in their feeding and calving behavior.
Researchers have obviously not spent much time observing the whales interacting with tour operators vessels in Churchill. Having spent over 10 seasons with groups of travelers out on the Churchill River and Hudson Bay, I have seen the behavior in just about every situation many times over. Beluga whales are curious beings and when they are not feeding or tending to their calves they love to approach and follow boats of all sizes. Zodiacs in particular are favorites for the whales with their low throttle. The whales seem happy settling into the slipstream created by the outboard motor and often approach close enough without prompting for one to reach in the water and touch the melon of a beluga.
So, without hesitation, I can firmly state that beluga whales are safe around whale watching boats in Churchill. They are adept enough to avoid a boat traveling at fairly high speed though this practice is quite unusual for anyone out to view the whales. The video below highlights the behavior that beluga whales exhibit with no fear. Good job DFO!
This incredible polar bear photo by Roie Galitz is the most amazing seal kill I have ever seen. Unreal! Come to Churchill next fall and see these incredible polar bears in the wild!
